Inside this Issue
2 / President’s Corner
Meeting Minutes
3 / New Supernova Type First Tatooine Planet
4 / Hubble Digs up Galactic Glow Worm
5 / S*T*A*R Membership
6 / In the Eyepiece
S*T*A*R
P.O. Box 863
Red Bank, NJ 07701
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April Meeting
The next meeting of S*T*A*R will be held Thursday April 4. Our speaker will be Andrew Baker, a professor at Rutgers University, whose talk is titled “Dense Gas in Distant, Dusty Galaxies.”
The meeting will begin at 8:00pm at Monmouth Museum on the campus of Brookdale Community College in Lincroft, NJ.
The Spectrogram 1
President’s Corner
By Rob Nunn
Spectrogram was last published in September of 2012. The editor for several years had been Bob Fowler, who had published a newsletter with useful information (a moon phase chart, planet rise and set times, observing suggestions) and interesting stories and a spiffy format. Bob had asked that someone take over the job, but I had been unable to find a volunteer (or someone sensitive to arm twisting). So when Bob left the club, Spectrogram ceased to be published.
That was a serious loss for the club. Bob’s departure also meant that knowledge of the publishing process was lost. That knowledge includes sources of information, a template for creating an issue, the method of posting it on the club web site, and the method of sending a notice to club members. I have spent some time trying to reconstruct that process, and this is the result. I found some sources of information that Bob had included. But I haven’t found the table of planet rise and set times, and I’m using an older format.
And I haven’t found an editor. I had suspected that the process of producing Spectrogram was not difficult, and that is my conclusion from learning how it works. Publishing an edition is a matter mostly of collecting some tables and articles, and assembling them using a template. It requires an internet connection and some knowledge of the use of a document editing program, and could probably be done with a couple of hours of work. If you were reluctant to take on a job of unknown scope, perhaps you will be moved by the reassurance that it is not a huge job. So send in your resume quickly, before the job is taken!
The big astronomy event of March was the appearance of comet PANSTARRS. My three attempts to find it yielded only cold fingers, but a number of club members were able to spot it. And a group of three members produced a nice image of the comet. I hope you had luck spotting it.
Rob
March Meeting Minutes
By Rob Nunn
The March 7, 2013 meeting of S*T*A*R Astronomy Society began at 8 p.m. The meeting was held in the Nilson Gallery of Monmouth Museum and was attended by about 30 people. President Rob Nunn chaired the meeting and began by presenting the agenda and asking if there were any first-time attendees. One person introduced herself. She is a student at Brookdale Community College and had heard of S*T*A*R through her astronomy course.
Rob then introduced the speaker for the evening.Alan Witzgall is a Senior Optician for ESCO Optics in Oak Ridge, NJ. He is also a member and past president of Amateur Astronomers, Inc. of Cranford, NJ, and vice-president of the New Jersey Astronomical Association in High Bridge, NJ. His talk, titled “Supernova! Interstellar Alchemy,” described the processes by which stars become supernovas, and the creation of elements by those stars. He began with a history of supernovas, with accounts of observations from ancient times that can now be explained. One of the earliest was made by the Sumerians, who observed a false dawn caused by a supernova just below their horizon. He described in some detail supernova1987a, which was one of the first to be observed with modern telescopes. Images from before and after the explosion show a dramatic increase in magnitude. Alan showed the complexity of the processes by which elements are formed with diagrams of fusion and the decay of the nuclei of atoms. He concluded his talk with a listing of nearby stars that will probably become supernovas. An explosion of any of those stars would likely cause devastation on earth by destroying the ozone layer in the atmosphere. Some researchers believe that such an event cased the enormous loss of species at the end of the Paleozoic Era. Alan's talk was greatly enjoyed by the club.
Following a break, Ken Legal presented information about comet PANSTARRS. A sky chart showed the position of the comet low in the western sky for the period March 7 through March 20. On March 12 the comet will be close to the crescent moon. On that day the moon will provide a valuable guide to the position of the comet.
Rob reported that the star party at Mill Lake Elementary School in Monroe Township on February 21 was a big success. About eight club members brought telescopes. Viewing conditions were excellent, and students and their parents were treated to views of Jupiter, the moon, Andromeda Galaxy and star clusters.
Treasurer Arturo Cisneros presented a short account of club finances. Because of low income, the club has already spent the amount that it has received in revenue this year. The club will be able to pay expenses for the remainder of the year by spending from the reserve from last season, but this is the first year in many years that the club has faced such a shortfall. The main reason for the shortfall is low club membership. We have also had little income from 50/50 this season.
The club discussed methods of informing the public about STAR and its activities. Rob showed a flyer that had been distributed to places such as libraries. Jay Respler wondered if activities could be published in newspapers. New member Michelle Paci offered to set up a Facebook page for the club. Rob felt that would be a valuable source of publicity, and asked her to do so.
Rob noted that the bylaws require appointment of a nominating committee for end-of-year elections at the April meeting. Ken legal, Mike Kozic, and George Plumfield offered to serve on the committee.
The meeting adjourned about 10:10 p.m.
Astronomers discover new kind of supernova
(Phys.org) —Supernovae were always thought to occur in two main varieties. But a team of astronomers including Carnegie's Wendy Freedman, Mark Phillips and Eric Persson is reporting the discovery of a new type of supernova called Type Iax.
Previously, supernovae were divided into either core-collapse or Type Ia categories. Core-collapse supernovae are the explosion of a star about 10 to 100 times as massive as our sun. Type Ia supernovae are the complete disruption of a tiny white dwarf.
This new type, Iax, is fainter and less energetic than Type Ia. Although both types come from exploding white dwarfs, Type Iax supernovas may not completely destroy the white dwarf.
"A Type Iax supernova is essentially a mini supernova," says lead author Ryan Foley, Clay Fellow at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (CfA). "It's the runt of the supernova litter."
The research team—which also included Max Stritzinger, formerly of Carnegie—identified 25 examples of the new type of supernova. None of them appeared in elliptical galaxies, which are filled with old stars. This suggests that Type Iax supernovas come from young star systems.
Based on a variety of observational data, the team concluded that a Type Iax supernova comes from a binary star system containing a white dwarf and a companion star that has lost its outer hydrogen, leaving it helium dominated. The white dwarf collects helium from the normal star.
Researchers aren't sure what triggers a Type Iax. It's possible that the outer helium layer ignites first, sending a shock wave into the white dwarf. Alternatively, the white dwarf might ignite first due to the influence of the overlying helium shell.
Either way, it appears that in many cases the white dwarf survives the explosion, unlike in a Type Ia supernova where the white dwarf is completely destroyed.
The team calculates that Type Iax supernovae are about a third as common as Type Ia supernovae. The reason so few have been detected is that the faintest are only one-hundredth as bright as a Type Ia supernova.
"The closer we look, the more ways we find for stars to explode," Phillips said. The Large Synoptic Survey Telescope could discover thousands of Type Iax supernovas over its lifetime.
Researchers capture possible first picture of 'Tatooine' type planet orbiting binary stars
2MASS0103(AB)b in November 2012, with NACO in L' band. The green arrow shows the position of the companion in 2002. The light-blue circle identifes the expected position of the companion if it had been a background source. Credit: arXiv:1303.4525 [astro-ph.SR]
(Phys.org) —An international team of space scientists led by Philippe Delorme of Joseph Fourier University in Grenoble, France has taken a photograph of what might be a very large planet orbiting two suns. In their paper they've uploaded to the preprint server arXiv, the team describes how they compared the objects in their photograph with data previously captured by telescopes in 2002, to derive the orbital motion of the system. In so doing, they have found they've captured on film either a very large planet, or a brown dwarf circling binary stars.
The name Tatooine comes from the fictional home planet of Luke Skywalker of the Star Wars movies—it had two suns in its sky, providing audiences with surreal and iconic images. But it appears, that's as close as the planet in the movie comes to the one found by the team studying a photograph taken last year using the Very Large Telescope sitting atop a mountain in Chile. The real one, named 2MASS0103(AB)b, is colossal—approximately 12 to 14 times the mass of Jupiter. It appears to be made of gas as well, and it may not even be a planet at all, but a brown dwarf—a failed small star.
The researchers note that the dividing line between a brown dwarf and a planet is still being drawn by scientists, thus, they can't say for sure which the object in their image really is. They theorize that because it orbits so close to its stars—approximately 12.5 billion kilometers—it likely came into existence as material from the disc surrounding the stars clumped together due to gravitational instability, rather than via core accretion as is common with other planets. In this case, it would seem to be too big to have grown via accumulation of new material striking its surface.
To confirm whether the object in their photograph is indeed a planet, rather than a brown dwarf, the researchers will next focus their attention on learning more about its chemical makeup—if it turns out to be a planet after all, that will lend credence to the instability theory of its origin. Either way, in studying the newly found system, researchers will almost certainly gain new insights that are likely to be helpful in identifying similar bodies in the future.
Hubble digs up galactic glow worm
(Phys.org) —This charming and bright galaxy, known as IRAS 23436+5257, was captured by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope. It is located in the northern constellation of Cassiopeia, which is named after an arrogant, vain, and yet beautiful mythical queen.
The twisted, wormlike structure of this galaxy is most likely the result of a collision and subsequent merger of two galaxies. Such interactions are quite common in the universe, and they can range from minor interactions involving a satellite galaxy being caught by a spiral arm, to major galactic crashes. Friction between the gas and dust during a collision can have a major effect on the galaxies involved, morphing the shape of the original galaxies and creating interesting new structures.
When you look up at the calm and quiet night sky it is not always easy to picture it as a dynamic and vibrant environment with entire galaxies in motion, spinning like children's toys and crashing into whatever crosses their path. The motions are, of course, extremely slow, and occur over millions or even billions of years.
The aftermath of these galactic collisions helps scientists to understand how these movements occur and what may be in store for our own Milky Way, which is on a collision course with a neighboring galaxy, Messier 31.
Are you a S*T*A*R Member?
S*T*A*R meets the first Thursday of each month, except July and August, at 8:00 p.m. at Monmouth Museum on the campus of Brookdale Community College in Lincroft, NJ. Meetings usually include a presentation of about one hour by a guest speaker, a break for refreshments and socializing, a description of interesting objects to view, and a discussion of club business.
Memberships:
( )Individual...$35
( ) Family...$45
( ) Student…$15
Name______
Address______
City______State___Zip______
Phone______
Email______
Make checks payable to: STAR Astronomy Society, Inc. and mail to P.O. Box 863, Red Bank, NJ 07701
The club owns 8" f/8, 13" f/4.5 and 25" f/5 Dobsonian telescopes which are available for use by members. Because of its large size use of the 25" requires the supervision of two qualified operators. To borrow a telescope or become a qualified operator of the 25", please contact the Vice President.
The officers of S*T*A*R are:
President Rob Nunn
Vice President Kevin Gallagher
Secretary Steve Fedor
Treasurer Arturo Cisneros
Member at Large Dave Britz
S*T*A*R is a member of the Astronomical League (AL). Members receive the AL pulication Reflector.
The Spectrogram 1
In the Eyepiece
Here is a list of objects for this month. This is reproduced from with the kind permission of its creator and author of SkyTools Greg Crinklaw.
Object(s) / Class / Con / RA / Dec / MagY CVn / Variable Star / Canes Venatici / 12h45m07.8s / +45°26'25" / 4.9
Black Eye / Galaxy / Coma Berenices / 12h56m43.9s / +21°41'00" / 9.3
Sombrero / Galaxy / Virgo / 12h39m59.3s / -11°37'22" / 9.1
Downtown Virgo & the M87 Jet! / Galaxy Cluster / Virgo / 12h26m12.2s / +12°56'45" / 9+
M 106 / Galaxy / Canes Venatici / 12h18m57.5s / +47°18'14" / 9.1
M 108 / Galaxy / Ursa Major / 11h11m31.3s / +55°40'31" / 10.9
M65 / Galaxy / Leo / 11h18m55.8s / +13°05'32" / 10.2
M 66 / Galaxy / Leo / 11h20m15.1s / +12°59'22" / 9.6
Owl / Planetary Nebula / Ursa Major / 11h14m46.1s / +55°01'07" / 12.0
NGC 4631 (The Whale) / Galaxy / Canes Venatici / 12h42m07.8s / +32°32'27" / 9.7
NGC 4656 / Galaxy / Canes Venatici / 12h43m58.2s / +32°10'09" / 11.4
NGC 4244 / Galaxy / Canes Venatici / 12h17m29.5s / +37°48'26" / 10.8
NGC 4013 / Galaxy / Ursa Major / 11h58m31.5s / +43°56'51" / 12.3
NGC 4762 / Galaxy / Virgo / 12h52m55.9s / +11°13'57" / 11.3
NGC 4236 / Galaxy / Draco / 12h16m41.8s / +69°28'10" / 10.1
Hickson 61 / Galaxy Group / Coma Berenices / 12h12m23.9s / +29°10'40" / 11.1
NGC 3607 / Galaxy / Leo / 11h16m54.8s / +18°03'06" / 10.9
Focus On Gliese 433.1 / White Dwarf Star / Ursa Major / 11h37m05.1s / +29°47'58" / 12.5
Antennae/Ring Tail / Galaxy / Corvus / 12h01m52.8s / -18°51'54" / 10.9
NGC 4490 / Galaxy / Canes Venatici / 12h30m36.7s / +41°38'27" / 10.1
NGC 4361 / Planetary Nebula / Corvus / 12h24m30.8s / -18°47'05" / 10.3
NGC 4027 / Galaxy / Corvus / 11h59m30.1s / -19°16'05" / 11.7
NGC 4094 / Galaxy / Corvus / 12h05m53.9s / -14°31'36" / 12.7
NGC 4782 & 4783 / Galaxy / Corvus / 12h54m35.8s / -12°34'06" / 12.4
NGC 4462 / Galaxy / Corvus / 12h29m21.2s / -23°09'59" / 12.8
NGC 3987 / Galaxy / Leo / 11h57m20.9s / +25°11'42" / 13.8
Siamese Twins / Interacting Galaxy Pair / Virgo / 12h36m34.4s / +11°14'18" / 11.7+12.1
NGC 3628 / Galaxy / Leo / 11h20m16.9s / +13°35'14" / 10.3
NGC 4565 / Galaxy / Coma Berenices / 12h36m21.1s / +25°59'13" / 10.6
Abell Galaxy Cluster 1631 / Galaxy / Corvus / 12h52m52.6s / -15°24'47" / 13.3
Palomar 4 / Globular Cluster / UMa / 11h29m16.0s / 28°58'24" / 14.2
Abell 35 / Planetary Nebula / Hydra / 12h53m34.2s / -22°52'17" / 12.0
Coordinates are epoch 2000.0
The Spectrogram 1